by HP Mallory
As I rounded the hall, a Watcher blocked my way. Suddenly, a rage I couldn’t trace to its source overcame me. And then I realized it wasn’t my rage at all, but Donnchadh’s. I wondered why he got so angry at the sight of the Watcher—since I had more reasons than he did for that—but I just figured he was pissed off all the time in general. Why would now be any different?
The Watcher was silent, stiff as a board, and unmoving. It just stood there, blankly staring at me with a shriveled, mummy-like face.
“Get out of my way!” I screamed at it. Despite my change of hair color, it most likely assumed I was still Persephone. Hence, the more attitude I displayed, the better. The longer the monster looked at me, the more I realized how much it resembled a sickly version of Alaire. That thought made me swallow hard.
Alaire…
He was still the wild card. I wasn’t sure how long he’d hold out in his quest to woo me. As with all things involving the Master of the Underground City, the breaking point would eventually come when he would decide to take what he wanted . Hopefully for me, that day wouldn’t come anytime soon. For the time being, I couldn’t be bothered worrying about it.
The Watcher made no motion to move, but just continued blocking my path. I could only gaze at the huge, wooden double doors that led to the courtyard beyond.
My hands balled into fists and I allowed Donnchadh’s rage to flow through me. An unbridled strength coursed through my arms. Clarity filled my head as I figured out what I needed to do. The Watcher reacted to none of this. It just stared at me, still unmoving and even unblinking. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my nerves in an effort to assure myself that I could really do what I needed to accomplish.
I reviewed everything Tallis told me, all the words he used when he explained how I could grant Donnchadh power over my body. I glanced down at my forearm and fisted my right hand. Using the fingers from my left hand, I tightened them around my right elbow, creating a crude tourniquet. Then I focused on the runes just above my grip and closed my eyes, imagining a bright white light emanating from each tattooed letter.
I repeated the Gaelic words in my head, the ones that would release the warrior spirit from inside me. I wasn’t so much worried about releasing Donnchadh as I was in regaining my control over him right away. I couldn’t be sure he’d stick to the rules of the game and for this plan to work, he had to color strictly within the lines.
That sounded like a tall order to me when Tallis mentioned it. But my Dark Woods hermit seemed to think it was possible. As he explained, the runes adorning my forearm were woven of his own Druid magic as well as the Norse magic that belonged to Alaire. Together, the wards that locked Donnchadh inside me were about as strong as such wards could be. And that strength translated into the fact that, technically, Donnchadh should have been my (figurative) bitch.
That was the only reason Tallis agreed to my plan when I explained it to him. He was convinced that the runes would protect me and also allow me to regain control over Donnchadh when I most needed it.
I’m granting you power over me, Donnchadh, but I will still remain your master. You may use my body but you must abide by my rule, I mentally whispered. I had to be sure to convey my intentions to the ancient spirit that resided within me.
Immediately, I felt heat welling up from deep inside my core, bubbling over my stomach as it traveled down my legs and up my arms. Waves of red-hot anger accompanied the heat and I could feel Donnchadh swelling inside me, his ever-present anger becoming increasingly palpable. That anger only magnified tenfold when he hit the walls of the runes on his rise up, the same walls that allowed me to maintain a semblance of myself.
With Donnchadh’s strength and rage boiling inside me, my clenched hand shot up and out, my knuckles driving through the Watcher’s mushy face. I jerked my hand back through the hole where its face used to be. The Watcher twitched involuntarily before collapsing into a heap like a discarded ragdoll. The rage that gave me strength instantly evaporated, leaving me feeling somewhat hollow.
I stepped over the dead Watcher and walked forward, grabbing the ornate iron handle on the door. I pulled it open and the darkness of the Underground City immediately enveloped me. As soon as I stepped foot outside the doors, I knew I would be subjected to whatever atrocities awaited me. There was no protection beyond the walls of the palace now that my sword was temporarily lost to me. A thought that both sickened me and caused my heart to beat faster with hope.
Donnchadh, you are awakened within me and you will do my bidding, I thought the words and felt the same stirring of rage and resentment that caused my stomach to turn. It was the exact sign I was looking for.
Smiling in spite of myself, I fearlessly stepped into the darkness.
***
I let Donnchadh flow through me, taking control of my body as much as I would allow him, while I received flashes of images and memories that were totally alien to me. It was almost like watching a movie from a long, long time ago.
In some ways, it was a less benign, less coherent version of the images I occasionally glimpsed of Tallis’s checkered past. Snapshots of pictures continued to unravel before my eyes, as if they were taken through the lens of a shaky camera. I saw things I couldn’t explain; they moved too fast for me to fully comprehend. As soon as one image entered my brain, it disappeared and another would take its place.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
When the images finally ceased, I found myself breathing heavily and covered in sweat.
I heard something screeching from above me. Glancing up, I had to duck to avoid the claws of the Fury. I hit the ground and rolled onto my back as the creature flapped its huge wings and circled the air above me, preparing to attack again. It was the same fury I’d had the skirmish with the first time.
The Fury swung low at me but I dodged her. However, I reacted just a second too late and her claws caught my arm, tearing into my flesh as I extricated myself from her tenacious grasp. I screamed and my entire body burned with stinging, searing pain. I looked down and realized I was bleeding. From my shoulder to my elbow, I was covered in deep gashes and scratches.
Then something fierce washed over me, and I knew I couldn’t fight the formidable force I saw before me. I had to offer myself to her in undisguised submission in order to win her loyalty. I wasn’t sure where that counterintuitive feeling was coming from but I absolutely hoped that it was Donnchadh and not some ridiculous notion I created all on my own.
I swallowed hard as I stood up, holding my wounded arm and glaring up at the Fury as she continued to soar over my head, circling like a vulture after spotting its next meal. At the rate I was bleeding out, it might not have been too far from the truth. My heart slammed into my chest and I heard my pulse inside my head. I breathed deeply. My conviction in the decision I was making was all that bolstered me.
I meekly acquiesced, appearing docile and honest to this magnificent creature. The Fury eyed me narrowly and her wings began to slow down before she landed in front of me. I couldn’t get over how huge she was, easily towering at two or more heads above me.
The Fury kept her distance and regarded me suspiciously. Nevertheless, she approached me, hunched over in a peaceful show of undeniable force. I raised my arms, something I was certain revealed that I had no fear. We were only a matter of inches from each other. The Fury sniffed me, a grimace wrinkling her beautiful face. With a flash, her claws were suddenly in front of me, striking up and then down. When she pulled away, the talons were dripping with fresh blood. My breast flinched with the intense pain. So much for peaceful resolutions! The fight was on.
Backing up, I slowly glanced down, noticing my right breast had three deep puncture wounds. The blood was really spurting out of me now, and my feelings of panic were increasing by the second. Maybe I made a mistake? Maybe this hadn’t been Donnchadh’s surety at all! What if it had just been a stupid idea that randomly entered my head? If that were the case, I supposed I was about to pay for my ignorance.
I pulled myself up by the gaps in the stone wall beside me and leaned against it, fresh tears running down my dirty, blood-stained face. The salt in my tears sharply stung my open wounds. I couldn’t win this fight. Not alone. I never could have to begin with. I wasn’t strong enough. However, I had someone with me who was much stronger than I.
Donnchadh, I whispered in my head. I need your strength and power. You have to show your dominance over this creature and make her submit to our rule.
His response was a fiery anger that once again consumed me. I glanced down and noticed the runes on my inner arm beginning to glow fluorescent green. I had to figure that was the sign that Donnchadh was taking over my body, just as I’d willed him to.
I began standing up and the pain that was formerly incapacitating me suddenly dissolved into nothing. I strode forward as the Fury squawked at me, holding her hands up so I could see her bloody talons. But Donnchadh didn’t care. He wasn’t intimidated by the sight of a little blood. He just strode onward.
The Fury attacked me—well, us, technically—but Donnchadh commanded my body in a superb way and one that I never could have managed. He grasped the creature by her wings and held her off as she kicked and clawed at us. Despite all the rage boiling through him, there was a clear understanding between us that we couldn’t break the creature’s wings. She had to transport us so we needed them intact. We just had to show the Fury who was truly in charge. We had to bend the Fury to serve us.
I started wrestling the creature down to the ground, being careful to avoid her razor-sharp talons as she tried to snag me with them. I released both of her wings and gripped her wrists with my hands, shoving them down before I forced myself on top of her. There was a raging power inside me that I’d never felt before, something so fierce that I knew it would not back down. And, God help me, I loved it! I reveled in it even.
The Fury was finally down for the count. She kicked the ground and air, trying to gain purchase but it was all futile. We had her pinned. The bitch hissed and squealed at me in vain.
I noticed that overhead, the other two Furies circled but neither made an attempt to land. It was as though they understood this wasn’t their fight.
“You will obey me!” I screamed in a voice that seemed familiar but definitely wasn’t my own. The Fury’s wings, which were pressed onto the ground beneath her, fidgeted. She was trying to open them wide and flap me away from her. But now I was too strong… or rather, Donnchadh was too strong.
“OBEY ME!” I screamed, digging my fingernails into the soft flesh of her arms.
The Fury reared back, launching her head forward, her hideous jaws wide open. Her teeth were small but sharp, like needles. I pulled back but unfortunately, not fast enough. The sharp canines clamped onto my cheek and I heard the sound of my flesh tearing away before I experienced a searing pain. Blood poured down my face, tickling my neck as it boiled from the newest open wound on my body.
Just then, the Fury ceased to attack me any further. Instead, she stopped fighting and I felt her body relaxing. It was clear that I had won the battle. I continued to hold her there, just to make sure it wasn’t a ploy. Donnchadh agreed with my decision and he tightened my grip on the creature. But after a few more seconds, we both understood. The Fury was submitting to our will.
I rolled off her and pushed myself along the wall, fresh blood and sweat dripping off me by the bucket load. I didn’t know how badly I was hurt but I suddenly felt very weak. I needed to get back to the castle to treat my wounds. Specifically, I had to see Tallis and ASAP.
I glanced at the Fury as she forced herself to her feet. Then she took a seated position, letting her wings down while her expression remained placid. She was now mine to command.
Now that she had finally submitted to me, I knew the others would soon follow suit. Just as I thought those words, I glanced up into the sky again and spotted the other two Furies floating overhead, circling and screeching at one another as well as the Fury who now sat silently at my feet. The Furies probably served Alaire because of his power and title as Master of the Underground City. This whole exercise was staged to prove to them that Persephone was the only one with all the power. Thankfully, their pack mentality allowed them to recognize a new alpha when they saw one.
Despite the infinite pain, I smiled.
My plan was finally coming together.
Now if I could only survive the fallout from Phase One.
“Covetous, envious, proud…”
- Dante’s Inferno
SEVENTEEN
Tallis
“Tallis!”
I thought I heard the faint call of Besom’s voice. Standing up, I attempted to go to her at once, forgetting that I was still chained to the wall and thusly, ineffectual. Mind you, the chains did not spare me any pain in alerting me to that fact.
“Aye, are ye well, lass?” I called out. I did not like the sound of her voice.
“No,” she said with a deep sigh and the clicking of her heels on the stone floor stopped. “And I still can’t get through this barrier that Alaire erected between us.”
“Whit is wrong with ye?” I demanded. The waves of her concern began wafting through the air, hitting me directly in my heart. The poor lass was weakening, growing more despondent by the moment. And I did not understand the reasons, which frustrated me all the more.
At the sound of the door opening, I cocked my head to the side, eager to see who was entering the dungeon beside her.
“Tell Alaire I need help,” she whispered to whatever manner of creature now encountered her. “I don’t know how much time I have left.”
At hearing her words, my stomach dropped. There was no response until I heard the sound of the door closing.
“Whit has happened?” I demanded again. My heart was racing inside my chest and I cursed my useless humanity! It was as much of a prison as these blasted chains and stone walls. But human or not, I still retained my Druid magic. That magic would now prove very useful. I needed only to reach my beloved before it was too late.
“I fought the Fury, Tallis,” she said dreamily. I could envision the triumphant smile in her proud words. “And I won. Donnchadh and I won.”
Depending on the extent of her wounds, there was a chance I could not assist her. If her injuries were life-threatening enough, I would need access to her body, something prohibited by the barrier between us.“Boot at whit cost?” I asked, my heart pounding inside my chest. “Ye are wounded badly?”
“Yes,” she started.
“Lily, where the bloody hell is Alaire?” I roared in protest. He was the only person who could heal her now unless the blockade between us were removed. But only Alaire could manage that.
“I don’t know. He said he had some business in the city and wasn’t sure when he’d be back.” She coughed and the sound of spluttering made me wonder if there was already blood in her lungs. “I sent one of the Watchers to find him… Hope he’s closeby.”
“Verra good,” I said as I breathed in deeply. I did not know what Alaire would make of her wounds or knowing that she battled with a Fury. As with all things that involved Alaire, I could only assume the worst. “Ye moost come oop with ah fabrication tae tell ‘im when ‘e arrives,” I started.
“Yes, I’ve… already thought… of what I’ll tell him,” she responded. “So don’t… don’t worry about that.”
“Besom, in yer moost honest terms, tell me… how bad is it?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I can’t die, right?” She laughed when she said the words but it sounded hollow, and I knew she was very frightened.
“Nae, boot we both know Donnchadh can take advantage o’ yer weakened state,” I said as I closed my eyes. I used my Druid magic to make the connection that united Lily and me. It was a longshot and I expected the invisible bulwark between us would probably neutralize my magic, making it completely ineffectual, but it was worth a try all the same. “Close yer eyes, Besom, an’ imagine Fergus Castle.”<
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When she did not respond, I assumed she was doing what I asked—for once. I squeezed my eyes shut even more tightly and visualized the castle that my family had occupied for centuries.
In response, the chilly wind blew against my face and I opened my eyes to find myself standing on the shoreline, the loch far off in the distance. As ever, the castle looked so proud against the azure sky.
“Tallis.”
My heart leapt to hear Besom’s voice. I turned to find her standing before me. I went to her and held her tightly in my arms. When I looked down at her, she was pale and feeble. While I could not see her life-threatening wounds, I knew her very life was rapidly slipping away from her. By all the gods, she was worse off than I ever imagined. Donnchadh would surely use this to his advantage unless I could save her before it ever came to pass.
“Ah can heal ye, lass,” I whispered to her, grateful that it was so.
“How?” she asked as she glanced up at me, tears blurring the deep green pools of her eyes. “Out in the real world, you’re still too far away.”
“Through our connection, Besom,” I said as I held her closer to me. “Be it down the hall or the ends o’ the earth itself, distance dinnae matter. Now close yer eyes an’ open yerself tae meh.”
I only hoped I spoke the truth for I did not know for certain whether I could heal her with the barricade separating us in the earthly plane. But try I would.
She did as she was told and I gently lay her down at my feet. Holding my palms over her body, I allowed her inner light to guide me to her most serious wounds. As I scanned her body from the top of her head, something began pulling me towards her cheek. I focused my hands above that spot and chanted healing lore in the old language. Blue light began to radiate from my palms and strings of light beams fingered down Besom’s cheek. They buried themselves into her skin until her veins lit up blue, resembling the great web of a spider. I watched the blue light begin to dissipate before it bled into nothing but the smooth porcelain of her alabaster skin.
